Roller-bearing.



No. 642,575. Patented Feb. 6, I900. -G. BOTY & L. MOREAU.

ROLLER BEARING.

(Application filed July 13, 1898.)

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' ROLLER BEARING.

(Applicatidn sued July 13, 1898.)

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GUSTAVE BOTY AND LEON MOREAU, OF BRUSSELS, BELGIUM.

ROLLERS-BEARING.

srncrrr'cn'rron' forming part of Letters Patent No. 642,575, datedFebruary a, 1900. Application filed July 13, 1898. Serial No.685,846.(N0 model) T0 at whom it may concern/.

, Be it known that we, GUSTAVE Bow and LEON MOREAU, of Brussels,Belgium, have invented-certain new and useful Improvements inRoller-Bearings; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full,clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to lettersof reference marked thereon,which form a part of this specification.

This invention has relation to rolling bearings for shaft or axlejournals, and more particularly for the axle-journals of railway ortramway rolling-stock.

As is well known, the axle-boxes of vehicles are subjected to variousstrains-as, for instance, vertical strain, due to the load on the boxes,horizontal strain in a plane parallel with the axis of rotation of theaxles, due to lateral or swaying motion of the vehicle, and horizontalstrain on a plane at right angles to the axis of rotation of the axle,due to the forward or backward thrust of the load in starting orstopping.

So far as we are aware the object of all rolling bearings heretoforeused is simply to reduce friction, and incidentally to relieve theaxle-boxes as much as possible of the vertical strain due to the loadthereon, no provision having been made for relieving the axleboxes fromstrain due to lateral and forward or backward thrusts.

Our invention has for its object a journalbearing constructed to relievethe axle-boxes from strain in any direction; and it has for its furtherobject to simplify the construction of axle-boxes for railway andtramway rolling-stock, as will now be fully described, reference beinghad to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a fragmentarylongitudinal sectional view of our improved journal-bearing applied toan axle or shaft journal. Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse section of anaxle-box provided with our improved j ournal-bearing, taken on line a bof Fig. 3, which is a longitudinal vertical sectional view of theaxlebox and bearing and the journal of a vehicleaxle, said section takenon line 0 c of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a horizontal sectional view taken online 6 f of Fig.3. Fig. 5 is an end view of a chain of rollers formingpart of our improved journal-bearing. Figs. 6, 7, and 8 are similarfragmentary views illustrating modifications in the means of spacing therollers. 7, and 8 are fragmentary longitudinal sectional views of themodified means for spacing the rollers shown in Figs. 6, 7, and 8,respectively. Fig. 9 is a top plan view of a chain of rollers,illustrating a modification in the construction of the bearing-rollers;and Fig. 9 an end view thereof.

Our improved journal-bearing comprises, essentially, a box or housingand a chain of rollers surrounding the revoluble journal. The housing iscomposed of a cylindrical hollow body or sleeve M and of two heads N andP. The latter may be a solid plate, as shown, or simply a ring-shapedhead which may be formed integral with the sleeve M. The inner faces ofthe heads N and P are recessed, the faces of the recesses being concave,as shown at 11, Figs. 1, 3, and 4, and constitute arcs of circlescomplementary to arcs of circles formed at the points where the journalA joins its end flange and the axle A, respectively, thus formingconcave recesses for the convex heads F on the roller-spindles D of theroller-bearing.

The roller-bearing consists of a chain of rollers R, mounted loosely onspindles D, the outer ends of which are enlarged to form heads F, whoseouter faces are convex, as above stated. The spindles D are somewhatshorter than the chamber in housing MN P, and therollers R are ofgreater diameter than the heads F of said spindles, so that there is aclear space all about said heads for the purpose of avoiding frictionalcontact between them and the axle-journal and the heads of the housing.sary that the roller-spindles be held at a suitable distance from oneanother to avoid frictional contact between them, and this may beeffected in various ways.

Spacing-plates L, made in two parts, each provided with a half-bearing,as shown in Fig. 5, may be used, or spacing-plates L provided in theirouter faces with a half-bearing Z may be used, as shown in Fig. 6, or aseparate spacing-plate L may be used for each spindle, as shown in Fig.8, or spacing-plates L It is of course neces- Figs. 6,

. having bearings for more than one roller-spindle D, may be used, asshown in Fig. 7.

The bearings for the spindles may be open either outwardly, as shown inFig. 7, or inwardly, and the bearing-plates may be interconnected, as bymeans of a wire w, wound around the ring of spacing-plates within anouter groove therein, as shown in Figs. 6 and 8, or by means of two suchwires wound around the ring of plates in an outer and inner groove ofsaid plates, as shown at w and 10, Fig. 5.

In the arrangement shown in Figs. 9 and 9 spacing-plates L are shown,each having bearings for two roller-spindles D, said plates beingconnected together by metallic straps S, connecting two spindles havingtheir bearings in adjacent plates.

From the description of the construction of our improved journal-bearingit is evident that it constitutes in itself a complete bearing and maybe used as such, as shown in Fig. 1, or it may be placed in an axle-box,as shown in Figs. 2, 3, and 4, in which case the housing M P N is madeof such a length as to fit snugly against the opposite inner faces 3 andn of the axle-box A, the cylindrical body M being provided with one ormore holes a: for the passage of the lubricant from the axle-box to thebearingrollers R and journal A We prefer to divide the axle-boxhorizontally into two parts a and a, each provided with bolt-flanges forsecuring said parts together by means of bolts 1) and nuts I).

The axle-box A has a chamber J for the reception of the aforesaidbearing-box M P N, and a portion of the inner face of saidchambernamely, from the point 0 to the point d in the upper half of theaxle-box-is concentric with the longitudinal axis of the rollerhousingand constitutes What is usually termed the saddle, the remaining portionof said chamber J being eccentric to said axis. The object ofthisconstructionis twofold: first, to form a chamber partly around theroller-housing for lubricant, and, secondly, to provide shoulders at thesaid points 0 and d, on which the axle-box A can rock. The two halves ofthe axle-box are or may be provided with heel-pieces T, fitting aroundthe arms of the axle-guard.

From the above description it will readily be seen that the verticalstrain is exerted, as usual in roller-bearings, upon the rollers R. Thelateral strain or thrust in one or the other direction, due to theswaying or displacement of the load in a plane parallel with the axis ofrotation of the axles, is taken 'up by the heads F of theroller-spindles D, while the thrusts on the axle-boxes in a horizontalplane at right angles to the axis of rotation of the axles and occurringin starting and in stopping are practically nullified, in thattheaxleboxes are displaced on the bearing-box by rocking on one orthe othershoulder formed at the points 0 and d, according as the thrust is in aforward or rearward direction, the saddle S being partly lifted off thecylindrical body M of the bearing-box, as, will be readily understood.

Inasmuch as the lateral strain is not exerted on or taken up by therollers R, we are enabled to make these rollers in sections, thesections being split sleeves and the split being either parallel withthe longitudinal axis of the roller-spindles D, as shown at R, Fig. 9,or oblique thereto, as shown at R in said Fig. 9.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new therein, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A j ournal-bearin g comprising a series of spaced spindles, rollersloosely mounted thereon and arranged to form a circular bearing for ajournal to revolve in, said spindles provided with a convex head at eachend; in combination with a cylindrical housing in which said circularroller-bearing is fitted, and a confining device at each end of thehousing pro vided with concave surfaces facing the heads of theaforesaid spindles, for the purpose set forth.

2. A j ournal-bearing comprising a series of rollers, spindles on whichsaid rollers are loosely mounted, said spindles provided at each endwith a convex head of less diameter than that of the rollers,and spacingdevices for the spindles interposed between their heads and theirrollers, said parts arranged to form a circular bearing for a journal torevolve in; in combination with a cylindrical housing in which saidbearing is fitted and a confining device at each end of said housinghaving a concave surface facing the convex heads of the roller-spindles,for the purpose set forth.

3. The combination with an axle-journal, a roller-bearing'therefor, anda cylindrical hous ing in which said bearing is fitted and confined; ofabox forsaid housing provided with a chamber, a portion of the innerface of which is eccentric to the longitudinal axis of theaforementioned housing, the remaining portion of said chamber-surfacebeing concentric with said axis and seating on said housing, for thepurpose set forth.

4. The combination with an axle-journal, a bearing therefor, comprisin ga series of spaced spindles and rollers loosely mounted thereon andarranged to form a circular bearing for the journal to revolve in, saidspindles having a convex head at each end of less diameter than that oftheir rollers, a cylindrical housing in which said bearing is fitted andin which the spindles thereof have endwise play, and a confining deviceat each end of the housin g providcd with concave surfaces facing thespindle-heads; of a box for said housing provided with a chamber thegreater portion of the inner surface of which is eccentric to thelongitudinal axis of the aforesaid housing the remaining portion beingconcentric with said axis and seating on such housing, substantially asand for'the purpose set forth.

5. The combination with an axle-journal, a

roller-bearing for said journal, and a cylindrical housing in which saidbearing is confined; of a box for said housing provided with a chamber,a portion of the inner-surface of which is eccentric to and theremaining portion concentric with the longitudinal axis of said housingand seating thereon, and means for placing the interior of the housingin communication with said chamber, substantially as and for the purposeset forth.

6. The combination with an axle-journal, a roller-bearing for saidjournal and a housing in which said bearing is confined; of a box forsaid housing divided horizontally into separably-connected partsconstructed to form an GUSTAV'E- BOTY. LEON MOREAU.

Witnesses OELESTIN VERTOMMEN, GREGORY PHELAN.

